Ann Brown & Christine Allen

• Partners for 21 years
• Ann is 61 & Christine is 57 years old
• Ann & Christine are Irish, Scandanavian and Armenian
• Our extended family is Mexican, Chamorro, Iraqi, African-American, White, and Eritrean
• Grass Valley, CA

We, Ann Brown, 61, and Christine Allen, 57, have been a couple and creating family together for over 21 years. We have five grown children, two grown "play-daughters", three grandchildren and a nephew who serves as an additional grandson. Ann, Christine and their five children are white, of primarily Irish, Scandinavian and Armenian ethnic background.

Our children-in-law and grandchildren are mixed white and Mexican, Chamorro and Iraqi. One play daughter is African-American and white, the other is Eritrean. Our family includes folks who are lesbian, straight and bi-sexual. Economically we are working class. This multi-cultural, multi-generational family is bonded tightly by mutual love and responsibility. We have a strong sense of who we are and what we mean to each other.

We have blessed and attended the marriages of three of our children. However, we, the matriarchs of this large clan, remain unwed. First our children, and then our grandchildren, just assumed that we were married - until they were each old enough to start picking up on the social and legal ramifications of homophobia. We are so weary of explaining to the little ones why Nana and Grandma cannot legally marry.

For over 21 years we've paid the extra financial expense of being a same-sex couple. We've put all of the extra time and energy into registering as Domestic Partners and documenting our relationship to satisfy the requirement that we continually prove who we are to each other and to our children. We do what we can to protect the most valuable entity in our lives -- our family.

Isn't it time for common sense, reason and love to prevail? After all, what part of love and family is so very difficult to understand?